Erdogan “leaked” Putin’s words: Russia is “not a lawyer Assad”

26.04.2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shortly before the meeting with Vladimir Putin on may 3 revealed the details of their private conversation. According to the Turkish leader, Putin is not committed personally to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on the care which insist Western countries, and Turkey in particular. Meanwhile, at the official level, Moscow emphasizes that the current Syrian regime as legitimate. Will the fate of Assad stumbling block in the way of Russian-Turkish negotiations? This “MK” said the expert.

photo: kremlin.ru

In the interpretation of Erdogan Putin’s words about the Syrian President sounded so: “erdoğan, don’t get me wrong. I am not a defender of Assad, I’m not his lawyer.” According to the Turkish President, it indicates a softening of Moscow’s position towards the Syrian crisis, which, as stressed by erdoğan, it is impossible to solve, while Bashar al-Assad is in power. “He attacked his own people with tanks, guns, cluster bombs, chemical weapons. I think it can become a means of solving the problem?”, — said the President of Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Syrian conflict led to the migration crisis in Europe that did not appreciate the contribution of Ankara to fight the influx of refugees, says Erdogan. In a recent interview with Reuters he obviously has finally buried the plans of Turkey’s accession to the EU. And along with the EU itself. “One or two countries can not maintain the viability of the EU. He needed a country like Turkey, another country, symbolizing a different faith… But EU members did not seem aware of this fact. It seems difficult to accept a Muslim country,” Erdogan said, — Why should we continue to wait? After all, we waited 54 years”.

However, the Turkish President did not say anything sensational. At the time, the Minister of foreign Affairs of the Russian FederationSergey Lavrov said that Russia does not rely on any of the Syrian politicians, and the fate of the country and its leader should be resolved by Syrians. And that Turkey turned away from Europe, it became clear after Erdogan called the Dutch authorities “fascists” for the dispersal of the rally of the Turkish community in Rotterdam. The results of the constitutional referendum, which gave the Turkish President almost unlimited power, only reinforced mutual hostility between Ankara and Brussels.

Nevertheless, Turkey remains a NATO member and ally of the United States. So, it was in the American President Donald trump Erdogan has pinned his hopes on a solution to the Syrian crisis. Previously, he approved a missile strike by the United States on the Syrian government to the aerodrome in response to the use of chemical weapons in Idlib.

“Turkey’s policy toward Syria is clearly compatible with the main ally of Erdogan’s regime — with the United States. — noted in conversation with “MK” leading researcher of the Centre for Asian and African studies of the Higher school of economy Alexey Obraztsov. — I will remind that the President of the United States the first of the leaders of the big powers congratulated Erdogan on his victory in the presidential referendum. And now there is no doubt in whose interest it was carried out changing the Turkish Constitution. Turkey has become a powerful military fist in the confrontation between the US and Iran.

And yet at the upcoming meeting of Putin and Erdogan can be achieved success. Because the United States, though strong and influential, but far away, and a neighbor of Turkey is Russia. And as experience shows, to wage war on several fronts is very difficult. With the European Union relations of Turkey more than strained, with the major regional powers, especially Iran and Syria, is also the most brilliant. To in a position to quarrel with Russia, it is necessary to be a political suicide. In addition, Erdogan is quite easy to change its position in relation to specifics. Another thing is that the Turkish strategic line in the near future can not be changed”.